Those 3D print kits that Nokia released last week that can be used to print your own, custom Lumia 820 shells are essentially useless for hobbyists trying to print custom shells, an industry pioneer told Whiteboard.

“Thousands of hobbyists in the 3D printing scene will try it, and all they’ll be printing is scrap,” said Materialise founder and managing director Wilfried Vancraen in an interview with Whiteboard today.

Here’s what Materialise engineers did with the open source 3D printing kit that Nokia released for home 3D printing enthusiasts:

Materialise engineers printed a few of the shells for the Nokia Lumia 820 and say that their tests show that the shells just don’t fit right. One of the shells Materialise printed broke when an engineer tried to remove it again. Another shell was fitted on the phone, but after affixing it, it proved impossible to operate the buttons on the device.

Here are the results:

Materialise says on its blog that there are two main problems with the 3D printing kits:

1. The [default Nokia Lumia 820] shell consists of two materials: hard plastic for the shell a rubber-like material for the buttons. If you print the shell in one piece, you’re not able to push the buttons any more. If you print them separately, the buttons won’t fit in the shell.

2. Wireless charging isn’t possible any more since there is the wireless charging component is embedded in the shell . But that doesn’t need to stop you from printing it of course!

From top left, clockwise, these are the different techniques that Materialise tested:

1. This was printed on the UP!, a personal portable printer. The material that’s been used is nylon; you clearly see the support structure that needs to be removed. And that can be a little problem: you need be really careful when removing it otherwise your shell will be broken.
2. Resin: This is one of the best materials to use since the wall thickness is only 0.9 to 1 mm. But the problem with the buttons remain.
3. ABS: This material is not appropriet to use with this wall thickness.
4. Polyamide: The material is a little less flexible than resin, but ok. Same problem with the buttons.

Here’s the video:

Materialise promised that in the next days, they will release updated versions of Nokia’s 3D printing kits (3DK) that do work.

In the interview with Whiteboard (to be published one of the following days here), Vancraen warned that 3D printing is currently such a hype that it might become a bubble soon, with the real danger of a backlash that brings.

“What is irksome is the simplistic way in which Nokia launched this 3DK. That’s why we did this Mythbusters-like test of those files. It’s symptomatic for the simplistic way the industry communicates today.”

“3D printing is not like ‘printing’. There are different types of technology, and for each of those different types of 3D printers, you should use a different file. An SLS printer is not the same as a stereolithography printer. You have to know the materials and the printing techniques, and understand the weaknesses and strengths of each material and techniques.”